The debut of Lee Hutto as the new head coach of the Warren County Screaming Devils was spoiled by a very aggressive pack of Tigers from Washington-Wilkes last Friday night, Sept. 1. The Tigers exploded for 21 points in the second half to defeat Warren County 35-16 in the season opener for both teams.

"Turnovers were the big key in this game for us," said Coach Hutto. "We fumbled three times inside our 35-yard line, and Washington-Wilkes scored points from each one. We also missed too many tackles on defense.

"However, our kids played extremely hard, and there were several bright spots throughout the night."

The Tigers led 14-0 at halftime behind touchdown runs of 28 yards and 34 yards respectively from Kelmetrus Wylie.

Warren County finally got on the board at the 9:26 mark of the third quarter, when Devil linebacker Johnathan Lewis recovered a Tiger fumble and scored from the 15-yard line. Ivory Story ran the two point conversion in to make the score 14-8.

Washington-Wilkes scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter before the Devils scored their second TD of the night. Junior quarterback Tommy Seals broke the plane of the goal line from the eight yard line with 3:30 remaining in the game to make the score 35-14. Quadrez Reese successfully completed a pass to Jacobian Blount for the two point conversion to make the final score 35-16.

In the rushing department, the Tigers amassed 235 yards on the ground to the Devils' 79. Maquez Williams was the leading rusher for Warren County with 33 yards on eight attempts. Maquell Williams had 19 yards on four attempts, and Seals had 10 yards on 17 carries.

"Offensively, Maquez Williams, Maquell Williams and Quadrez Reese ran the ball extremely hard, and they blocked well also," Coach Hutto said. "Travis Burley also played well on offense for us with a 34 yard pass reception."

The Screaming Devils will be idle this week, but they will be back in action on Sept. 15, when they host the Swainsboro Tigers of Region 3-AA at Legion Field in Warrenton.

"Swainsboro is a lot similar to Washington-Wilkes," Coach Hutto said. "The Tigers are a big, strong, physical football team. They defeated Johnson High School of Savannah 35-10 last week in their season opener. Swainsboro runs the wishbone offense and a 50-front defense."

MIRROR REPLAY

Warren County 16 - Washington-Wilkes 35

Player of the Game: Junior Fullback Maquez Williams rushed for 33 yards on eight carries, for an average of 4.1 yards per carry.

Play of the Game: Johnathan Lewis' 15-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter was Warren County's first score of the game.

Up next: Warren County is idle this week, but the Devils will play host Swainsboro at Legion Field on Sept. 15.